Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Good morning, or good afternoon now, and I thank the witnesses for their presentations. A number of questions arise which are not specifically based on the presentations we have just heard, but are related to it. Obviously everyone supports tri-location. We all accept and believe that it is a good idea - but concerns were relayed to this committee. There was a degree of scepticism expressed about whether or not there will ever be a maternity hospital on the St. James's Hospital site. If a maternity hospital is to be put in to the St James's Hospital site further concern was expressed about whether or not it would be a full services maternity hospital or an urgent care only maternity hospital and I have to be honest that I would share some of this concern. That is my first question. If we all accept that there is not a huge benefit to be had from bi-location and that tri-location is the key, I would be interested to know if the board has an estimate on when we would actually see tri-location on the St James's Hospital site.

Reference was made to 78% of proposed inpatients coming from the Dublin area. Will the witnesses indicate where these figures came from because they have been disputed, on the basis of figures that have been publicly issued previously? We would all need to understand exactly who will be using the new hospital and where the figures came from. Perhaps Mr. Pollock and Ms Hardiman could give the committee a brief run through - it is in some of the documentation - on the car parking issues. Traffic is a serious problem. I lived in Dublin 12 for many years. I was born in St. James's Hospital and I am very familiar with it and I know that the traffic around that area is a nightmare. Parents have expressed concerns to this committee about driving through city centre traffic with a sick child in the back of the car. Anybody's heart would break listening to that so perhaps the witnesses could give the committee some idea of how traffic congestion will be dealt with because there is going to be traffic congestion.